Image: VOLKER WEIHBOLD
The suspect – apparently a student at the institution, according to information from the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of the Interior – was arrested, the police announced. He was also injured himself. The crime happened in the middle of school operations on Thursday.
Amok alarm triggered
The Wuppertal public prosecutor’s office said the alarm had been triggered. At least two students were seriously injured in the knife attack, said North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) in the Interior Committee of the Düsseldorf state parliament. The Düsseldorf police spoke of a total of four injured, without going into further detail about the severity of the injuries.
The attack occurred in the middle of Wuppertal at the Wilhelm-Dörpfeld-Gymnasium in the Elberfeld district, a school with an ancient language focus near the town hall. The police and fire brigade were on site with many forces. The building was evacuated and searched. Shortly after 12 p.m., officials announced that the students were safe. The evacuation was carried out in an orderly manner. The operation began shortly before 10 a.m.
Perpetrator critically injured
The police were informed of an emergency call from the school office, said NRW Interior Minister Reul. Nothing is yet known about the perpetrator’s motive. According to the public prosecutor’s office, the suspect was critically injured. According to Reul, he was told verbally with reservations that the 17-year-old had inflicted the injuries on himself. The authorities assumed it was a lone perpetrator.
Many students experienced dramatic moments and were affected by what happened. They were picked up by their parents and the police had set up a contact point for this.
“We were very scared”
A student told the German Press Agency that a friend of his saw two older students running down the stairs bleeding. “I thought: Maybe they got into a fight,” he recalled. But then an announcement was made asking them to go into the classrooms and lock the rooms. “We then pushed the tables in front of the door and sat on the floor at the back,” he said. “We were very scared.”
Other students reported similar things. “We had English class, then an announcement came that several students had been injured and that the paramedics should come to the medical room,” said one student. As they waited barricaded in their classroom, someone pushed the handle and scratched on the door.
Large-scale barrier
The area around the school was largely cordoned off. A police helicopter circled in the air. Among the many emergency services were officers with submachine guns. Pastors could be seen. Even students who were not physically injured were in shock.
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Source: Nachrichten
